Although
For Real! was at least
Hampton Hawes' 11th record as a leader, it was his first (and one of his relatively few) that included a horn player. The pianist matches quite well with the hard bop tenor of
Harold Land (heard in his early prime), and the quartet outing, which also includes drummer
Frank Butler, has an extra bonus in the playing of the brilliant bassist
Scott LaFaro. Performing three bop standards (including "Crazeology") and three originals (two of which were co-written by
Land), pianist
Hawes sounds inspired by the other players and is in top form throughout the generally memorable outing.